■ *9mm*n 










w >z* 












) g 


:> > 


> 


£> 


> 7> 




»> !))> 


> > 


> 




>•> 




-yp $» 


I>>2> 


>} 


■ D 


> 




> g3?>>> 1 


> J> 


> , i 


>:> 


•>:> ; 


> 


> £> £ 


:> 7> 


> \ 


^ 


>_> • 


> 


> »^ 


^> Z> 


>o ' 


>'3 


>"> ;• 


> 


?j 1> ; > > > 


^>^> 


J»> 


>;> 


3 > 


> 


r^^SrlB 


>g> 


'•:*>-> • 


1 53 


> "> ,: 


> 


^ » rt* 


-*^> 


:>.:> 


5 j> 


> > 


> 



:_> ><P^ 



!>.>'■>>;> 


> y ^ _^*-S 


3K?£P 


yy i> 3 


£> >-.> X> 


>:>_!]>> 


X>>:0_> 


>3 "3*3 


3>^ O) 


m>^m y 


2>>1E3> 


33 ~^3 


> 








: TB> G* 


_J 


>-.* -zz»- 


> 


2sy*so> 


y>z>^ 


>>o >> 13* 


:>3 _> J3 


> 3 > '■"!> 


^r>3> 


£03> Z> 


~3^iDtI> 


> > 3> z> 


y^>z> ^ 


► ^> ">-> ~i* 


y5~^> ^>3 



>^ 


£2> _^* U-2> 


J> 


:> 


3 


>> 


^ > 5*i>> 


3) 


E> 


J 


I3K23 


» ;»->> 


> 


2> 


> 


2> p2 


> 3>:o> 


> 


g) 


> 


.» ..>■• 


; ~>3>> 


> > 


> 


5»>J5 


J> -V>"3> 


5>1 


^> 


> 


>^3 


> > ;> .> >3> 


3> 





^> 


~3>p2 


1> > .:> 3> 


J> 


s> 


J» 


j)>yp 


> 3^y>3* 


3> 


3> 


>^ 2 


> f> 


_I>,v> 3> 


>r 


> 


:^d j> 


>9> 


LJ03C2* ■ 


^»_ 


) 


>:/^ 


>y; 


I»> 2> 


;>^ 


£> 


3>53 


>.' >' 


t^* 3> S 


> I. 


■ 


> ->^>- 


) ■ > 


Z>fc3 > ^> 


>i> 


5 


►; > 


> ■ '$> 


~U* 33 2> 


.5 s> 


3 


' >> 


j o> v " 


Z!50>Z>'""^l>.' 


2) J 


J> 


7> 2 
> > 


~}5* 


T3>:.*^>''3> :x> 


y& 


3 


> 


A>i 


3>» 2> 


: ^_ 


^ > 


> 3 


^ 


J>^>2> ^> 




L> 


>: 




2> 3> > :^> 


^ _j> 


_> 


^> i. 


.»'• 


:i> !>:>;:> 


1j 


y 


:> 




~l> T> :^> :3> 


)> 


s> 


3> ',$■ 


,y> 


:> i> z>:sz> 


"O 


y 


.^> 0" 




y>~~y~->~~> 


3>" 


> 


^>:>> 









LIBRARY OF " CONGRESS, f. 



©§itp + ._l:i_ ©xtpjrig|t fu. 

Shelf _*J__ii_-. 

— ^B . c 

UNITED STATED OF AMERICA. 






>> > 


j> 




;> 3~> 


y> 


> 


> 


~x>:: 


i> 


. J 


■^ ^J 


^> 


JJ> 


a> 


>^ > 


s> 


> 


*m> n>% 


>>- 


_> 


>_a 


~>^:. 


> 


J>. 


i>^m > 


"Dr ; 


:> 




^^ 


,y 




2> > .3 


s > 







>-> 


-y Z 




3^Q> ■ 


» - v 


v . 


> 


> 


y> ': 


y 


2» ■■:. 


3"- v 


:^ 


3 


> 


^> 


}> 


":^>3> : :- 


3 >. 


)-) 


J* 


0. 


y-: 


>y 


- JJ^y, 


%'•)! 


"■'0' 


_J» 


>> 


>* 


> 


■ .yyy^ 


X 


>:>>■. 


3 


D^ 


y 


■)) 


_^o>>, 




;.i^ 


Jl 


r> r)K> 


> 


> 


yy> y 




D 


> 




3 

^v 


7> 
S 


y>y>y> 






~Tfc- 



:» ;; 



JO L 
3D 



■ :>> ^ 
I>S> 3: 



> 


y^> yy 


>-' 


yr> r» 




>s%^ :>> jz 


^ 


z> yy 


,> 


yy yy 


> 


3> yy 


: ;> 


2>>: yy 


> 




7> 


3m> x> 


Z>3 




»x>. _ 




>i))i 




>> >> 3 




Z353>'y 




iy:>j> -T 


) ; 


jy>y : 


)>) 


~:yyy _ :. 


x> 


^ -^» : 


>-. "• 


S 3T>1> 









3 


33 


_3 3 


3> • 


Z>S> 


_3 S 


> 


3>3 . 


23 


■n 


3 


m> : 


23 3 


> 


33^ - 


3 


3 


3 3 


>33. 


3 


> 


S3 : 


3^ 


v 


3 


33 ""* 


:> 3 


> 


33 : 


3 


>r> 


3> 


33'3\ 


:> ~ m 


3 


33 : 


3 


>V 


3 


33 r 


> 3: 


3 


33 i 


> 


>3> 


3 


33 I 


>: 33 


> 
> 


23 G2 
§>3 3 


► - 


3 '". 
>3 


3 

3 
3 
Z> 
Z> 


33 3 

3S>Z!S 


► 33 

► 33 
33 




> 
3 
> 


W> "3 


5>3>3 


3> 


3> " 


A>r> 


> 

> 


33- 


3 


>> 


3 


33 

33 


3 3 

3 3 


33. 


_3- 


33 : 


> 3: 

> 3 


>3 ■ ■ 


>y 


3) 


3 3 
13 


>3 

33 • 


►3 3 
3 3 


33.- 


33 


3 '*: 


>>3 


>': 


-1) 


13 


S3 ; 


"3 3 


g>: 


533 


5 


3 


3> 


"O 


337: 


3>- 


333 ■ 


3 


3 


13 


S3 3 


3 3 


>■ ;>: 


>3 


3 3 


> 


3 ^ 


3 - 


03 3 


3 


>3> 


3 


]> 


3> 


3> £ 


£>>2? 


3 "5 


i>3 ! 


3>7; 


> 


3 


>3 : 


3 3 


3 3 


>3' ■ *! 


3> 1 


> 


3 


33 * 


3> 3 


33 


W2PZ 


3:; 
v 


3 


3 

3 


3- G2 


3> 31 



333 .3 


333 3>:^. 


^ 3>^ 


3>3: 


>.3333- 


^33 . 333 ._3 


P3 


3 3 3 


,03. 3>»; 


IS33: 


3> ;; 


>3 I3>: 


> ~3> 3 3 33 


3> 


3 ; 3 ^ 3 


> 3 ■ > 


j 3> :- 


'.0 :> 


3 ^E3>3 


33> > > 3> 


3:>3> 


3 3> ;n> 


3>; 3S: 


1 3 


SJ^^l 


3'3 


ir 3^>^ 3:0. 3> 


3> 


3 ;3> 


3>33 3S: 


IQD . 


>3^ /•;: 


>3Z> 


o^3> 3 ; 3 _3> 


K> 


> 33 33> 


33 > :i3?o 


• 3> >■ 


^3l> 3 


3 33*, -3 


)^;3m^33 33> 


^>3> 


3 > 3> 


>3 3^33^o 


r -' 3 5 


>.3^; 3 


3 3> ;3 


) ^ 3Z3^ 33 3Z3 


3^3 


33333> 
3 j33£> ^ J 

3^E> 3 
33> - 

-3-'X> 3 
* 3>^> ^ 
3 3 33 


».D"3y> 
^3:3'-) 
•. 33 "3,o — 
^3>"-3^> ~ 
33 3 33 
^3'3 >' 3"" : ^ 
s>3; 3 -3>^ 
3)3 3 33 
3)3.3> .'3- 


3 3 
t3 3: 

> >i> 

3 3^ 
13 jS 

:3> 3 

3> 3 
3> 3 

>3 : 


33d .5 

>3£> 3 : 

;3»s) ^3 
"3rv 3 
S> 3X^ ■ ": 
3 33 : 
3 33 
» 3 
33 3> 


•3>33 
^33 3 3 


>>Z>: 33 .33 
33>. 37333 : 
""Z> f r 33> .-> 

3 "33 M~33 

0:3:33 3 
>3 33 33 3 
)33'>3 .. 
33 3 33 ^ 


33 3 
3^3> 

>^33f 
B>333 
33) ~" 
2>3 3 
3 ^> 

3 ^> 


33 3 3 


33-33; 


33> : 


3V3 33> 


33 : 3:33' 


3T -3 


;3> 33 


- 3 3 3 


3^3 


333- 3 


> 3> -; 


3 3.3:"3>' 


3> 


s> 333 


3 3 3 


33 


33 


3 >>:-^ 


v 3 3 :J33I>' 


:^> s 


33 33> 


■ ^;3 : 3> 


>>>3^ 


3 3 


3>"o>> 


3 3 3 >■■ 


-^ 


' 33 33 


3^ -3 3 


• -.>.T> 


_3 : ^3 


3 3> ; 


3 3 3 3 , 


^»i- 


> _>3t> 


^;>^: 


> 3> 


^;3> 


> 3 


l» 


> 032> 


3) 3 - ^ 


> 3 


3 33 


"3"1»- 


3>~3S^>:i> 


3> . 


> 3333 


y> LDof 


3':33 


I>5> 


"33} 


3> ^> > > 


33: 


> ' 3o3 


33 :d>3 


3 3 


3>33 


► i -33' != "S5» 


-"^» 3>>^> 3* 


335> 




^ 3> > 


33 7 3T 


^►-^Z> 33 


3> 33. 3 3 


33 


3 3>^ 


.-^J ^ 


>33"^ 


>"Z>:^ 


> 3 3 


33 3 3 > 


3>3 


3 33 


> 3) v~3 


|3> - 


y~ ">-.! 


|>3I 


> " 33 33'3 : 3 


► ^33 


> > D>1 


3>- :I» > "^ 


> > ^ 


3>:_Z>3 


E>'^i 


7) 12) ^ O y 


B X 


> 3> .3 5 


3 '^>3 :. > = 


"> 533 


3 13^ ■ 


SZ> 3"^ 


3 ^g> 3"3 ; 3 


33V 


* 3> 3> 


3.1) ;, = 


i> 3: 


3:r>;: 


EO > 


3 3^> v"333"^ 


^ 52 


► 3> 33 


3 I3Q 3 


3> m 


3.3^3 


»z> 3: 


33TJD ; -->;>; 


" s 


► 771> X3? 


Q> :: ^>3>3- 


73 > 


:^.2>:^ 


>B35> 3 


173>> ^--3)3 


^> 31 



A NEW SUGGESTION 



BALLOT REFORM. 



THE REGISTERED ENVELOPE PLAN. 



ITS USE IN PRIMARY ELECTIONS. 



ALBERT BLAIR. 



St. Louis, Mo., October, 1889. 




ST. LOUIS: 
NIXON -JONES POINTING CO. 

1889. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1889, by 

ALBERT BLAIR, 
In the ofjfiee of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



A NEW SUGGESTION 



BALLOT REFORM, 



The elective franchise involves both a duty and a right. 
A free, intelligent and well meaning performance of that 
duty by the entire body of electors constitutes the best 
gdarantee of civil liberty and social progress. Since the 
rise of constitutional governments, it has been deemed by 
statesmen and publicists a matter of great importance to 
discover, and by fair experiment to prove, the best method 
of obtaining from the people individual expressions as to 
their choice of public servants and policies. From its prev- 
alence in the United States and Europe the method of secret 
ballot, to wit : the secret deposition of a written or printed 
ticket^has come to be regarded as the one most practicable. 
The secrecy confers independence, and the characters on 
the ballot are supposed best to certify the choice of the 
voter. So far in these respects no better provisions have 
beren suggested. But passing from these two prime con- 
ditions, of independence of the voter and certainty as to 
his expression, it has been found necessary in every State 
id provide by enactment a variety of additional restrictions 
arid safeguards. Some of these enactments relate to the 



4 A NEW SUGGESTION 

qualifications of voters and their certification by registration, 
so as to prevent voting by non-residents and aliens and to 
guard ngainst a repetition of votes by any voter at the same 
election. 

It has also been found expedient to divide cities and 
counties into small districts, anxl to pr^ovj^e that the electors 
residing in any such district shall be permitted to vote only 
within their own district and at some place designated there- 
in. This restriction is intended to secure the surveillance 
of a man's neighbors as to whether he can rightfully, under 
the tyw, cas|b a] ballot, j A^ho ugh; this P-dvpntfyg^ h secured, 
yet the restriction is attended with certain inconveniences 
and evils. They will presently be mentioned. 

It is commonly provided that the ballot shall be deposited 
in a closed box in the presence of persons, previously se- 
lected from the district who, authorized to judge of the 
qualifications of the applicant, may permit him to deposit 
1 his ballot in the box or may deny that right. These persons 
are for the occasion styled <« Judges of Election.' ' %js a rule 
judges of election are fair-minded men, but are not trained 
to decide controversies of either law or fact. Four judges 
are usually appointed, two of whom are to be of one politi- 
cal party and two of the opposite party. In theory the 
political bias of those of one party will counteract the bias 
of the other two. 

This neutralization of two counter tendencies is not in 
practice completely realized. Superior experience, natural 
force of character or sagacity possessed by one judge inay 
make him the prevailing mind in determining most of the 
questions arising before them. It not infrequently Happens 
that the men selected forjudges and considered best quali- 
fied to serve, on the morning of election fail to attend, dtid 
their places are supplied by a choice from those persons wlio 
happen to be present. It is a familiar maneuver in closely 
ebntested elections , for partisan workers puhctua lly to be 



IN BALLOT REFORM. 

present at the polling place at the opening hour and to take 
advantage of the failure of a judge selected from the oppo- 
site party to appear, and to install one of their own selec- 
tion in his place. Such selections by by-standers are often 
accomplished without much regard to form arid without in- 
quiry into the qualifications of those participating therein. 

The acts of judgment devolving upon judges of election 
are numerous, diverse, and often of such difficulty as either 
to produce division among themselves or to subject them to 
criticism by those who are not satisfied with their decision. 
In cases where there has been a previous registration of 
voters and they have been officially supplied with a copy of 
such registration, so far as it relates to their district, the 
judges are required to consult such registration list in de- 
termining who are entitled to vote. It is often difficult for 
a judge to accept the fact of registration as conclusive upon 
the right of one applying to vote, when facts within his own 
knowledge or the statements of credible persons strongly 
tend to show that the person offering to vote has no such 
rights On the other hand, the voter's name may have been, 
either by accident or by design, omitted from the registry 
and yet there may be incontestible proof offered that he 
has a right to vote and has been registered at former elec- 
tions; To the mind of one judge the fact of citizenship 
shouldi govern irrespective of the registry, while another 
judge is disposed to stand upon the letter of the law and to 
regard registration or non-registration as the conclusive 
criterion. 

Question may also arise as to whether one duly regis- 
tered, but who no longer resides at the dwelling indicated in 
the registry, but yet resides in the district^ has a right to 
vote. 

A printed ticket, having a caption intended to be mis- 
leading, regarding its political tenor, may be presented. 
The question may be urged upon the judges, under the law 



6 A NEW SUGGESTION 

in some States, whether it should not be rejected. In such 
cases there is opportunity for serious error to be committed, 
involving controversy, more or less dissatisfaction and some- 
times the issue of the election. 

Usually also it is the duty of the judges to ascertain the 
result of the ballots received by them and to make tally 
sheets of the same at the close of the election before quit- 
ting the polling place. In canvassing the ballots one by 
one, various questions arise and the judges must adjudge. 
The more numerous the questions the greater chances there 
are for error. Two paper ballots are discovered to be 
carefully foided together, shall both be rejected or shall the 
one bearing a number indorsed thereon, when received, be 
admitted as legal? A ticket is discovered to be the product 
of two or more fragments pasted together and the law may 
require that each ticket shall be an integral paper. The 
judges must decide upon its admission. Again there is sure 
to arise the perplexity so common as to whether a vote for 
J. Smith shall be scheduled as a vote for J. Smith or for 
John Smith. On receiving a ballot a judge omitted to 
indorse thereon a serial number as required by law ; may he 
afterward make the indorsement so as to legalize the bal- 
lot? Suppose further that the district was formerly a part 
of the Second Congressional District, but under a recent 
apportionment has become a part of the Ninth Congres- 
sional District ; and suppose further that there is a vacancy 
to be filled in the Second District as well as a regular elec- 
tion to occur to select a Congressman for the Ninth District. 
Should there be cast a vote " For Congress " without 
designating the District intended, shall the vote be counted 
as proper for either district or shall the meaning be inferred 
from the name of the person voted for, such person being 
known as a candidate in one of the districts? 1 

1 State ex rel. Broadhead v. Berg, 76 Mo. 136. 



IN BALLOT REFORM. / 

From the foregoing instances it is manifest that the 
judges of election may have a variety of questions of law 
or of fact presented to them for decision, either in receiving 
ballots or in counting them. 

In such cases it is not practicable for them to hear argu- 
ments, or to institute extended investigation, or to obtain 
the advice of counsel. 

The purely ministerial duties of canvassing ballots, mak- 
ing schedules, ascertaining footings and preserving rejected 
ballots are not performed ordinarily under the best con- 
ditions for securing accuracy. The polling place is gener- 
ally a second or third rate room, shop or shed and is not 
likely to be conveniently arranged or adapted for perform- 
ing clerical work. At the close of a day of unusual con- 
finement, perhaps endured without sufficient light or heat, 
around crowded tables and subject to frequent interruption 
by reporters or partisan workers, the business of counting, 
certifying and preserving the ballots is often imperfectly, 
if not wrongfully performed. 

Other evils attend the present system. Owing to the 
necessity of voting in the precincts in which they reside, it 
is most convenient for laborers and business men, whose 
daily employment is at a considerable distance from their 
homes, to vote either early in the day as they go to their 
work, or in the evening on their way homeward. Too often 
there is a delay in opening the polls. The ballot boxes or 
the schedules have not come to hand, or there is no writ- 
ing material, or as more frequently happens, there is a 
failure of some judge or clerk to be present. Most labor- 
ing men cannot afford to wait long for the privilege of vot- 
ing and too many business men are disinclined to endure 
the inconvenience of waiting. The result is that some go 
away without having voted and fail to return. In the 
evening another sort of obstruction is likely to be ex- 
perienced. There is a crowd waiting to vote and the slow 



8 A NEW SUGGESTION 

progress the long file is making deters the impatient or in- 
different man from remaining. The necessity, commonly 
existing in cities, of consulting a registry to find the name 
of the applicant is a hindrance to a speedy receipt of bal- 
lots. 

Although the precinct system, conducted by judges resi- 
dent therein, is intended to prevent false personation. bal~ 
lot stuffing, repeating, intimidation and other crimes against 
the elective franchise, yet it is notorious that in some com- 
munities and in many of the central precincts of a city, the 
safeguards heretofore provided often prove ineffectual. 
At the same time the system is attended with the inconven- 
iences above pointed out. and abounds with numerous op- 
portunities for error. These faults have led to a serious 
consideration by the writer, as to how the method may be 
improved or another having fewer evils discovered. 

The object of this paper is to suggest a method which 
may be employed irrespective of the precinct plan and at 
the same time be attended with greater safeguards and less 
inconvenience. In proposing a new method it is not con- 
templated to change or abolish registration, but rather to 
insist that it shall be made more thorough and be accepted 
as conclusive. Every citizen should have an opportunity to 
apply for registration. After such application, the officers 
having registration in charge, should have sufficient- time to 
revise and verify their lists. Each voter, ascertained to be 
entitled to vote, should receive some document from the 
officer certifying to that effect. In case an application for 
registration is rejected there should be an opportunity for 
a hearing if the applicant so desires. The failure to obtain, 
through the mail or otherwise, from the officers of registra- 
tion, a certificate that he is registered would, of course, 
constitute notice to every rejected applicant of the decision 
of the Board against him, whereupon he should have op- 
portunity to have the matter decided before the day of 



IN BALLOT REFORM. H 

election. It being understood that the possession of a 
certificate by a voter is conclusive evidence of his right to 
vote ; there will then be no necessity for precinct judges to 
pass upon the question of his qualification. 

The only question for decision upon toe day of election 
would be the identity of the person presenting a certificate 
with the person described therein. 

As an instrument for certifying that the voter has 
been duly registered and for supplying means to test his 
identity, it is proposed that the recorder of voters shall 
issue to each voter, after having ascertained him to be 
legally entitled to vote, a registered envelope. The envelope 
is to serve two purposes, to wit : — 

First. By means of the descriptive notes indorsed thereon 
to identify the voter. 

Second. For inclosing the ballot. 

With the envelope the recorder of votes should also de- 
liver two counter-part stamps bearing the same serial num- 
ber, one of which stamps should be fastened adhesively to 
the ballot before it is inclosed in the envelope, and the 
other counter-part stamp should be attached adhesively to 
the envelope after it has been sealed up. The counter-part 
stamps will serve to identify the ballot, as the one inclosed 
in the envelope and the descriptive marks indorsed on the 
envelope will serve to identify the voter as the person whose 
name is indorsed thereon. The envelope and stamps are to 
be printed and issued only by the authority of the city and 
their manufacture or issue by any unauthorized person 
should be strictly inhibited by law. The envelope may 
bear an engraving or design, printed or embossed thereon, 
which shall serve as an official mark. On its face there 
may be blanks for the insertion of the number of the ward 
and of the precinct, also blanks for the name of the voter, 
his street, street number and for short descriptive notes as 
to his age, height, weight, color of hair, color of eyes, 
place of birth and occupation. 



10 A NEW SUGGESTION 

Registered envelopes should be issued only after revision 
of the registration lists. Every voter receiving ins appro- 
priate envelope will have the assurance that he is entitled 
to vote, and that such right will not be challenged. 

Any one who has applied for registration and at the ex- 
piration of the time prescribed for revision of the lists, 
fails to receive his envelope, will then know that he cannot 
without it be permitted to vote; and then will be his op- 
portunity for having the matter duly investigated and de- 
termined before the day of election. Possession of an 
envelope by the person named thereon is conclusive evi- 
dence that he is entitled to vote, and there remains nothing 
for him to do but to establish his identity. In this he will 
be assisted by the description indorsed on his envelope. 
The descriptive notes on the envelope will, to a high degree 
of certainty, identify the rightful bearer of it as the person, 
who under the name and description indorsed thereon, ob- 
tained registration as a resident at the place stated in the 
list. 

The collection of envelopes may be accomplished by 
placing at numerous and convenient stations in the city iron 
boxes or other sufficient receptacles, each in charge of two 
judges, whose duty it shall be to permit all persons pre- 
senting envelopes and fulfilling the descriptive notes in- 
dorsed thereon, to deposit the same in the box. The judges, 
hotvever, should have authority to reject a vote, should 
sufficient doubt as to the identity of the voter arise. It 
the applicant is denied the right, his envelope should be 
stamped as rejected, and his recourse or appeal should be 
to the City Hall, where his application should be enter- 
tained and an opportunity for proof given. 

It would be expedient to station a sufficient number of 
Ijoxes in the business and manufacturing centers of the city 
to accommodate men employed therein. This arrangement 
would greatly favor those mechanics and business men who 



IN BALLOT REFORM. 11 

cannot conveniently find time to go a considerable distance 
to vote. In the resident portion of the city the ballot 
boxes need not be so numerous in proportion to geographi- 
cal extent. 

Once or twice during the day boxes at those stations, 
where the votes are most numerous, may be taken to the 
City Hall and others placed in their stead. Of course boxes 
in transit should be sufficiently locked and guarded. 

At the City Hall all boxes are for the first time to be un- 
locked and opened and the ballots counted. Counting may 
be begun at least by noon, as a good number of boxes from 
the central districts may be brought in by that hour. As 
fast as the boxes are emptied, the envelopes contained there- 
in may be quickly assorted into different lots, according to 
the ward and precinct numbers shown thereon. The board 
charged with the duty of ascertaining the returns may have 
for each ward a corps of trained clerks, who, accustomed 
to making entries speedily and summations accurately, shall 
ascertain results for each ward ; all done under the super- 
vision of the board and under the best conditions for pre- 
venting error or fraud and in strict compliance with the 
forms of law. 

The law counselor of the city should be present ready to 
give advice upon any points of doubt arising in the course 
of the count. 

It is believed that the arrangement proposed whereby all 
the ballots are to be opened, assorted and counted and the 
results tabulated at the City Hall, under the supervision of 
superior officers and under conditions favoring speed and 
accuracy and excluding opportunities for fraud or confus- 
ion, will turn out to be more speedy, certain and eco- 
nomical than the present one, where the counting is 
done at the precincts. It is also believed that both 
the incentives and the opportunities for fraud w r ill be fewer 
under the new plan than under the present one. Many 



12 A NEW SUGGESTION 

frauds, in elections have been the result of a knowledge or 
impression founded upon a partial count, that more votes 
are required to carry the day. An unscrupulous ward 
worker on learning that in certain preciucts his candidate > 
has fallen behind, seeks either by use of "rounders" or 
ballot stuff ers or by resort to a nimble change of figures 
on the tally sheet to supply the necessary number of 
votes. 

In the system suggested no one outside the City Hall 
will be able to form a decided opinion as to how the vote is 
going. Every man's vote is sealed in the envelope and all 
the envelopes bear a neutral appearance. Neither the per- 
sons supervising the receipt of envelopes nor those who 
transport the boxes will be able to know anything of the 
political tenor of the envelopes received and transmitted 
to the returning board. This plan will also diminish in 
another respect, partisan activity on election days. Under 
the present system it is comm'on for a partisan judge, dur- 
ing the afternoon of election day quietly to make known to 
an outside fellow-partisan the names of those members of 
their party who have not voted. The business of driving in 
the delinquents is thereafter actively prosecuted. Possi-! 
bly there is no harm in rallying voters for partisan pur- 
poses, but the anxiety of the partisan judge, in case a large 
number of his party are delinquent, is far from favorable 
to an impartial exercise of his judicial function. 

The use of the counter-part stamps, each bearing the 
same serial number as a means of identifying a ballot with 
the one inclosed and deposited by the voter, was suggested 
by the remarks of Judge Brewer in the case of Hudson v. 
Solomon, tried in the Supreme Court of Kansas in 1878. 

"It is a primary rule of elections that the ballots con-,- 
" stitute the best, the primary evidence of the intention 
" and choice of the voter. As between, therefore, the] 
" ballots themselves and a canvass of the ballots, the 



IN BALLOT REFORM. 13 

-" ballots are controlling. This is, of course, upon the 

'*' supposition 1 that we have before us the Very bailors that 

ft were cast by .the voters. ' ' 

" And this presents the difficult question in this case. 
" For under the manner of Our election, there is nothing 

" upon the face of a ballot tb identify it as cast by any 
'^particular voter or even as actually used at any election. 
"Nothing to distinguish One ballot from another or 
<* those cast by the members of the same party, as no file 
"or other mark is made on the canvass or otherwise alter 

; ", the election, upon any ballot by which its actual Use at 
"such election may thereafter be established, and as at any 
«* election there is always a large surplus of uniis'ed ballots 

•M it is evident that if opportunity were offered J ballots 
'* might be withdrawn from the box and Others substituted 
^ with but little chance for detection. 

- "Thus in the ease before us,if there was but a single 
^ officer to elect atid but a single name oh the ballot, how 
v easily could one; having access to the box, throw in 
<< twenty-three or four additional ballots, and thus bring 
s< about the very 5 difference that appears before us how. 
" And who could thereafter tell which Was actually voted 

»"and which subsequently' thrown in. The ballot then, 
"upon its face containing no mark of identification, We 
"must look aliunde for evidence of the identity of those 
" offered and counted before us With those Actually cast at 
'* the election." 

It is true that in most States the receiving Officer is re- 
quired to indorse on each ballot received a serial number, 
which indorsement he usually rriakes with a lead pencil. 
Such a notation, as a mark of identification, is not as effect- 
ive 1 and indisputable, particularly to the voter himself, as 
will be the counter-part stamp, which he himself will affix, 
there being no other stamp like it except the Ohe which he 
has affixed to his envelope. 



\h 



A NEW SUGGESTION 



As before stated the descriptive notes indorsed upon the 
envelope are intended as means of identifying the bearer as 
the owner of the envelope. When a voter applies for reg- 
istration, these marks can be ascertained over his own 
signature, verified in part by inspection and entered of 
record. When the voter obtains his envelope it will be 
chiefly his own fault, if the envelope delivered to him is 
either deficient or incorrect in any such note of description. 
If so, it will be his privilege to have it corrected before 
election day. Nor need an officer, receiving envelopes, be 
liinited to the information afforded by the descriptive notes 
ifn deciding as to the identity of the applicant. Under the 
system proposed men can deposit their envelopes at a box 
situated near their work where it will be practicable for 
any one however humble or obscure to obtain proof as to 
his identity. His employer or some other person of reputa- 
ble .standing may vouch for him. It is believed that not 
many political rogues will attempt false personation under 
this system. To succeed in a single instance, at one polling 
place merely, would not pay for the hazard thereby incurred. 
To try a second time at the same place would certainly in- 
crease the liability of being detected. Suppose a political 
jobber buys or steals a dozen registered envelopes from as 
many different men, the chances are that in nine out of 
twelve the descriptive notes would be in several respects so 
unlike his own corresponding marks that he would hesitate 
to attempt false personation at nine different voting places. 
And should he be so reckless as to try it, the chances are 
that he would be detected at one of them. 

A ^number of the substantial evils and inconveniences 
attending the present system are exhibited in the follow- 
ing array : — 
1. Delay in opening the polls ; 

Under this head the following enumeration. 
a. Delay in opening the room designated. 



IN BALLOT REFORM. 15 

b. Tardiness or failure of the appointed judges or 

clerks to appear. 

c. Delay in obtaining ballot boxes, schedules, 

table, pen and paper or other necessary ap- 
pliances. 

d. Swearing in of judges. 

2. Hasty, informal or illegal elections to supply vacancies 

caused by failure of judges to appear. 

3. Perplexity as to the limits of the precinct. 

4. The intimidation of weak men by political bull-dozers, 

5. Ballot stuffing. 

6. Repeating. 

7. " Switching," that is, pretending to receive, indorse 

and deposit a ticket, but adroitly depositing a spurious 
one. 

8. Rejection of votes on improper grounds by judges insuf- 

ficiently versed in the laws relating to qualifications of 
voters. 

9. Controversies and affrays arising from differences upon 

numerous points likely to arise under the present sys- 
tem, but which under the new system will not arise 
at the polling place. 

10. The disinclination of many persons, employed at a 

considerable distance from the precinct in which they 
reside, to take the time during election day to go to 
their proper precincts to vote. 
Hi. The overcrowding of voters at the polls during the 
closing hours of the day, by which some are deterred by 
the prospect of delay from remaining to vote. 
12 ( . Imparting information by a judge or a clerk to an 
outside partisan as to what registered persons have not 
voted . 
13- Disclosures by judges and clerks as to how their neigh- 
bors voted. 
14. The practicability of dishonest judges holding back the 



„ 16 A NEW SUGGESTION 

results of the vote in a precinct with a view of changing 
the same if necessary. 

15. The conditions of inconvenience and discomfort under 
which precinct judges and clerks usually make up their 
returns. 

16. The inexpertness of the average judge and clerk for 
speedy and accurate work. 

All the foregoing evils are practically obviated by the 
new system. 

Not being obliged to deposit his ballot in any particular 
box, the voter need not tarry at any one place, but may at 
his convenience resort to another. It will be a matter of 
no importance so far as the act , of depositing the ballot is 
concerned to know what are the geographical limits of the 
precinct in which the voter resides. 

If the timid voter, apprehends the opposition of bullies 
in a particular neighborhood, he may resort to a place be- 
yond their range. 

Ballot stuffing or substitution will no longer be practic- 
able, for " no stuff " except the official envelope will either 
be received or counted. 

No man's vote will be rejected except on the ground of 
non~identity, and any such rejection at a polling place will 
not be conclusive. The applicant may at once transfer the 
issue to the City Hall. There being such redress and 
opportunity for correction, the likelihood of serious affrays 
at th<e polls over the rejection of any voter will be very 
small. 

The privilege of voting in the neighborhood of their work 
will induce most mechanics and business men to perform 
this important political duty. 

Overcrowding in the evening at any box is not likely to 
occur? provided the officers conducting the election have 
had, during the day, a sufficient number of boxes, judi- 
ciously distributed, stationed for the receipt of ballots. 



IN BALLOT REFORM. 17 

Disclosures as to how anybody has voted will be impos- 
sible except by those employed at the City Hall, and as to 
those so employed, the interest or motive for disclosures 
will be reduced to the minimum. 

False personation is an evil to be named in addition to 
those above enumerated as incident to the present system ; 
indeed, in the opinion of some who profess to be familiar 
with ward politics, it is one of the most common and exten- 
sive of crimes against the ballot box. As before stated, it 
is not difficult for the outside worker to obtain from a fel- 
low-partisan judge or clerk the names of those persons in 
the precinct on the registered list who have not voted. 

If, on inquiry, some who are not well known are 
ascertained to be absent from the city, or for any other 
reasons are not likely to attend and vote, it may seem 
practicable to a zealous but unscrupulous committee- 
man to find substitutes for the delinquent voters. An 
applicant, so substituted, by simply announcing his 
assumed name and address, is often accepted as a mat- 
ter of course, and permitted to vote. It may be admitted 
that by the connivance of officers, false personation may 
l>e accomplished under any conceivable system. And it 
may be assumed that in the proposed system there may be 
as great a per cent, of dishonest persons employed as in 
the present one. But there will be a difference between 
the old and the new in the degree of opportunity offered 
for collusion and pre-arrangement. Under the present 
system, influencing the selection of judges is important 
business in partisan scheming. Particular persons, for 
some days prior to election day, are known to be selected 
for particular precincts as judges, and those known to be 
weak and servile may be noted in advance. Under the 
new system, a judge, to be given charge of a box, need not 
know prior to the hour of service to what district he is to 
be assigned nor who is to be his associate in such charge. 

2 



18 A NEW SUGGESTION 

The opportunit}' for pre-arranging mischief will, by sucfe 
an uncertainty, be greatly reduced. 

It will be practicable for a voter to prevent use of nis 
envelope by any other than himself. This may be done 
by selecting before the day of election the polling place to 
which he is willing to be restricted, and having his envelope 
stamped as restricted and listed as receivable only at the 
selected station. He will know, but his envelope will not 
indicate where he is to vote, so that possession of such en- 
velope by any other than by the rightful owner will be 
profitless. 

As before stated, the proposed system pre-supposes a 
registration of voters, which shall be to a reasonable degree 
correct and complete. Possession of a registered envelope 
by the person named thereon, will constitute conclusive 
proof of his right to vote. This imputation of conclusive- 
ness may well arise from considerations of public policy ; 
just as in regard to conclusions attained by courts of justice, 
we are content to accept them as valid and final. 

This added import attaching to the results of registration 
will greatly enhance the responsibility of the officers having 
it in charge, and, as usually happens in the exercise of 
trusts, the sense of duty will be proportioned to the magni- 
tude of the interest committed to the trustee. 

Another advantage will supervene. If most of the evils 
attending elections can be restricted to those incident to 
false or erroneous registration, then the vigilance not only 
of officers and public-spirited voters, but partisans as well, 
will be combined and centered upon matters of registration. 

In correcting evils, men accomplish most when the pro- 
posed reformatory task lies along a single and distinct line 
of inquiry and action. A small garrison may successfully 
defend one or two weak points in a wall, but insecurity on 
many sides tends to distract and dishearten. 

In case a voter should lose his envelope, either by theft,. 



IN BALLOT REFORM. 19 

or misplacement, or otherwise, the office, upon sworn ap- 
plication thereto, might issue to him another ; but such 
second or alias envelope should be of a peculiar style and 
be entitled to displace the lost one, should it turn up among 
those received on election day ; just as the second of a series 
of bills of exchange when paid by a bank will exclude the 
first. 

Regarding the expense of the proposed plan of voting 
there are several reasons for believing it will be as cheap or 
cheaper than the present one. For the sake of an estimate, 
the City of St. Louis may be taken into consideration. It is 
a city of probably 450,000 people. The area included within 
the municipal limits is exceptionally large in proportion to 
population ; embracing about sixty-two square miles. It is 
divided into 152 election precincts. To each precinct for 
an election there are under the present system assigned four 
judges and two clerks, making an aggregate force of 912 
persons. Under the plan proposed the number of polling 
places need be no greater. There are within the city 75 
public school houses, so situated geographically as to bring 
one within a practicable distance to every child large enough 
to attend school. A polling place for every school house 
would in like manner subserve the convenience of every 
resident. In addition there should be, perhaps, fifty addi- 
tional polling places within the business and manufacturing 
districts. 

It would probably be sufficient to place two judges in 
charge of a box, each being chosen from different political 
parties. The clerical force would be employed at the City 
Hall. The Returning Board, in choosing clerical aid, would 
not be obliged to select distributively from the precincts, 
but might find experts wherever to be had. The vote of 
the larger wards might amount to three or four thousand 
votes. Suppose one counting group to comprise four 
clerks, one to read, one to tally, and the third and fourth to 



20 A NEW SUGGESTION 

serve as checks on the first two. It is believed that begin- 
ning at noon one such group might accurately schedule and 
count one hundred votes per hour. Fifty such groups 
would count 50,000 votes by midnight. 

In regard to ballot reform much has been lately written 
in behalf of the Australian system, and in several States 
laws embodying its principal features have been either en- 
acted or proposed. The leading provisions are that all 
tickets shall be printed by the State ; that an officer shall 
attend the polls and supply the voters each with a printed 
ticket containing the names of all the candidates, and that 
each voter shall have an opportunity, uninfluenced by the 
immediate presence of others, to change his ticket to suit 
his views and to deposit it as a ballot. 

These restrictions, it is claimed, will deprive political 
managers of all pretexts for levying assessments to pay the 
cost of printing and distributing tickets. And the business 
of buying votes will be greatly discouraged, for the buyer 
will have no way of knowing that the seller has complied 
with the bargain. 

The system undoubtedly has merits and may well receive 
consideration, if not a fair trial. But it does not cure or 
amend most of the evils above set forth as incident to the 
present system. It would be quite practicable to supple- 
ment the registered envelope plan by combining with it 
some of the features of the Australian system. 

The foregoing plan of conducting elections is submitted 
as an improvement upon the present one, only after ex- 
tended inquiry, observation and reflection. Many of the 
evils enumerated are certified either by personal observation 
or by the testimony of persons known to be versed in prac- 
tical politics. Doubtless in numerous details, the scheme 
would require modification, but the main idea, it is hoped, 
possesses merit enough to justify a trial of it. 

In the realm of organic life the law of natural selection 



IN BALLOT REFORM. 21 

it is said, is slowing evolving progressive structural changes. 
In physics a thousand trained investigators assiduously re- 
new and vary experimentation in order to discover new prop- 
erties, adaptations and powers. Amazing achievements 
mark their beneficent labors. In our national growth it is 
a laudable thing that while the spirit of conservatism is 
sufficiently strong to preclude hasty innovation in matters 
of government, yet there prevails a wide-spread belief that 
the best in every respect has not yet been attained. When 
amelioration seems practicable, the old order is not so 
sacred as to preclude modification. " The cake of custom " 
has not yet hardened and our institutions, unlike those of 
India and China, still possess flexibility of form. Where 
manifest evils exist, whether moral, political or physical, is 
it not the duty as well as the privilege of an intelligent 
community to consider means for their elimination? In 
regard to many of them it will be a wonder some day that 
society should have tolerated them so long. 

THE REGISTERED ENVELOPE PLAN IN PRIMARY ELECTIONS. 

In the foregoing paper the writer discussed at consider- 
able length a number of evils incident to the prevalent 
system of conducting elections. To obviate these evils 
he advocated a plan which he styled " The Registered 
Envelope plan." This contemplates that officers hav- 
ing registration of voters in charge, shall, after due re- 
vision of the registry lists, issue to each voter a registered 
envelope. The envelope is to serve several purposes. It 
will be a certificate that the person named thereon is en- 
titled to vote. By certain descriptive notes indorsed 
thereon the identity of the holder with the person named 
thereon is to be ascertained. It will also serve to inclose the 
voter's ballot, and being duly sealed insures its secrecy. By 
means of two counter-part stamps, one to be attached to the 



22 A NEW SUGGESTION 

ballot inclosed and the other to be attached to the envelope, 
the identity of the ballot as the one cast by the voter may 
at any time, if necessary, be established. The plan also 
contemplates that a voter may cast his ballot at any precinct 
in the city, and that all envelopes containing ballots shall 
be transported in locked boxes to the City Hall, where they 
are to be assorted according to wards, listed, checked and 
counted. It was demonstrated that a good many incon- 
veniences, errors, delays and frauds are made possible by 
imposing on precinct judges and clerks duties in respect to 
receiving and counting ballots which those officers are not 
as a rule, under the conditions under which they serve, 
qualified to perform. By the new plan, it is argued, much 
of the inconvenience will be avoided and the opportunities 
for error and fraud greatly lessened. 

Should the use of the registered envelope for voting pur- 
poses be found, on experiment, to be practicable and 
obviate a sufficient number of evils to make it a popular 
method, the extension of the plan to primary elections by 
the great political parties would probably ensue. Indeed, 
it was a sense of the necessity for some kind of improve- 
ment in conducting the elections by which political parties 
in cities choose their delegates to nominating conventions, 
and by which they select the members of the Central or 
Executive committees, that first prompted the writer to 
seek an improvement in ascertaining the choice of the ma- 
jority of the party. 

The ward mass meeting in practice is anything but a fair 
deliberative body, and too often it is a shameful farce, at- 
tended either with gross fraud or scenes of turbulence. It 
is well known that the more modest and the larger part of 
the more intelligent voters of a ward habitually neglect the 
ward meetings. They either find the situation so uncon- 
genial and their presence and voice so overborne by tumul- 
tuous proceedings that they are disgusted with the whole 



IN BALLOT REFORM. 23 

business and for a time resolve to have no more to do with 
ward meetings. The primary election, wherein a ticket is 
to be deposited in a ballot box in charge of authorized 
judges, and under the control of a Central Committee, 
has been adopted in some cities in the hope of giving results 
more satisfactory to the rank and file of the political par- 
ties ; but experience shows that it has all the evils of the 
present election methods and fewer of the safeguards. 
Whether we have ward mass meetings or ward primary 
elections conducted according to the present methods, we 
still are under the domination of the Central Committee; 
which usually implies a political boss and his unswerving 
followers. In nearly every city there is established for each 
of the great parties a corps of political workers who aim to 
keep themselves in control of the party organization. They 
largely determine the constitution of the Central Committee, 
the choice of delegates to conventions and the selection 
of candidates. This compact, invisible but powerful or- 
ganization is known as the " machine," and is astonish- 
ingly self-perpetuating and re-assertive. It is needless to 
say that while some of the members are actuated chiefly by 
the love of power, others are coarsely corrupt and easily 
purchasable. Appointments to Federal and State offices, 
as may well be believed, constitute a considerable resource 
for supplying aims and rewards for those powerful organ- 
izations in large cities ; but municipal patronage or plunder 
is the chief aliment from which they derive their vigor. 
Their "infloonce" with "His Honor, the Mayor," the 
City Council and the heads of Municipal Departments is 
not permitted to remain long unasserted. For a valu- 
able consideration it is always open to employment. If you 
are in doubt where to find its acknowledged agent, consult 
the attorneys of corporations which have obtained valuable 
franchises from the city ; or see the contractors who have 
in charge the improvement of streets or the furnishing of 



24 A NEW SUGGESTION 

supplies for public institutions. The value of the municipal 
patronage of the City of New York is estimated to be ten 
times greater than that arising from Federal offices in the 
same city. 

In thus invidiously characterizing a corrupt party man- 
agement it is not intended to declaim against proper party 
machinery and agency. The writer has had too much ob- 
servation and interest in partisan affairs to denounce indis- 
criminately all caucuses, committees of control, and other 
instrumentalities useful in politics. Their utility, if not 
necessity in promoting party work, is readily acknowledged. 
There is room for the officious ward worker and the ambi- 
tious political leader, self-seeking though they may be, yet 
it is wholesome, not only for the party but for the country 
as well, that when a majority of a party desire either for 
cause or from caprice to displace any particular combina- 
tion for the time being installed in the management of 
their political affairs, there should be a certain and prac- 
ticable method of doing so. It has been found in repeated 
instances that the ward meeting or the primary election as 
conducted in the customary way is ineffectual for such a 
purpose. 

One of the offensive things resulting from the domination 
of a corrupt machine in city politics is that the upstart can- 
didate, without personal merit or experience, but having, 
as the saving goes, " a barrel," can rally these " machine 
workers " to his support, in preference to a competitor, 
however well qualified, who is unable or unwilling to pay 
their extravagant assessments. 

In case of such a competition the problem with right- 
minded men is, how can the " boodlers " be defeated; but 
in many cases, unfortunately, the machine somehow certifies 
the opposite result ; and the unclean candidate and his de- 
filed adherents, insisting that he is the regular candidate, 
would constrain honest men to support him or be denounced 



IN BALLOT REFORM. 25 

as ** bolters " or sore-head faetionists. The evil originating 
in the wards is propagated like a germ disease, and the in- 
fection finally extends to the great national conventions. 
Men go as delegates of a State to select a candidate for 
the office of President, who, at home, are known to be sub- 
servient to the worst elements in municipal politics. And 
further than this, the average congressman elected from a 
city district, although much preferring to remain un- 
trammeled in respect to conferring favors upon his constit- 
uents, is plainly made to understand that he is indebted to 
the " machine " for his position, and that he cannot safely 
ignore its claims upon him. The result is that during his 
term of service he is afflicted with applications for places 
which he cannot at heart indorse, but which he has not the 
courage frankly to deny. 

It is not pretended that all these evils can be corrected 
by the proposed improvement, or by any other change, but 
it is believed that they can be greatly lessened. It is not 
practicable to keep a field of corn entirely free from weeds, 
but their growth to a mischievous degree can be minimized 
by the use of proper machinery applied according to ap- 
proved methods. 

Is it possible to lessen the power of money in politics 
and to limit the operations of corrupt combinations organ- 
ized for the purpose of controlling the action and choice of 
a political party ? The fact upon which we must rely and 
which should inspire us to make an effort to find a remedy, 
is the fact that in every ward of a city, certainly in the 
majority of the wards, a majority of the voters belonging to 
any party would prefer to give their support to men of good 
repute rather than to continue as their executive agents an 
organization notorious for selfish and corrupt practices. 

It is susceptible of demonstration that the " machine " 
men and their adherents are not in the majority. The 
trouble is that the majority, inexcusably it is true, do not 



26 A NEW SUGGESTION 

make a sufficient, united and persistent effort to displace 
them. The displacement must take place at the primary 
election. There the mischief begins and at that point must 
the remedy be applied ; but too many citizens, worthy 
in other respects, customarily fail to attend the prima- 
ries. Keproaching them for this neglect will not cure the 
evil. 

What is the remed} r ? If they will not go to the primary, 
the primary must go to them. It is worth while to change 
the plan of holding primaries if we can obtain the aid of 
these negligent voters in our efforts to improve political 
practices. 

The use of the registered envelope, it is believed, will 
make participation in the primaries so easy that no member 
of a political party can have a decent excuse for not tak- 
ing part therein. 

Having dwelt at length upon the necessity for some new 
method in ascertaining the will of a political party, it will 
now be in order to set forth the plan proposed in detail and 
to consider how it can be made a practicable measure. 

The first step will be the enactment of a law by the 
General Assembly to regulate the proposed method and 
prescribe a course by which the law may be adopted and 
made applicable to any political party within a limited po- 
litical district. Its adoption should be a matter of local 
option. It will hardly be practicable to attempt its adop- 
tion throughout a large city at a single movement. 

The members of a political party, at least a majority of 
them, in any ward of a city, ought to be permitted, upon 
taking the requisite steps, to obtain the benefit of the Act. 
In case the operation of the new method in any such ward 
should prove satisfactory, then other wards might and 
probably would in like manner adopt it. 

A petition signed and acknowledged by a majority of the 
party in the ward who are registered voters, might be ad- 



IN BALLOT REFORM. 27 

dressed to the State Executive Committee of the party 
asking the privileges of the Act and setting forth the facts 
required by the Act to entitle them to have the Act made 
applicable to them. If the State Executive Committee 
should find, after due notice and investigation, that the 
averments of the petition are true, they then should de- 
clare the Act extended to such ward, and duly certify the 
fact of such declaration. Upon the adoption of the 
law by any party for a particular ward, their 
State Executive Committee should prescribe a form 
of envelope for voting purposes for the use of the 
party permanently in that ward. Next they should ap- 
point from the members of the party in the ward three 
persons to serve as supervisors of primary elections. The 
supervisors should be, if possible, independent of all local 
standing committees of the party. Their terms of office 
should begin and expire in different years, so that any bias 
of a factional character, possibly affecting the State com- 
mittee, would not likely be wholly reproduced in the super- 
visors. The printing, listing and issue of envelopes to the 
members of the party in the ward for voting purposes, the 
collection of envelopes and the counting of ballots, should 
be performed strictly in the manner required by the Act 
and under the charge of the supervisors. The members of 
a party within the ward, who are registered voters, may 
upon written application become enrolled on a list to be 
kept by the supervisors: and to all such as are enrolled 
the supervisors, just before a primary election, shall deliver 
or transmit envelopes, to each his own proper envelope. 
Any voter on enrollment or at any subsequent time should 
have the privilege of directing whether he will call in person 
for his envelope, or whether he will have the same sent to 
him by mail, or by some designated agent. In like manner 
the return of envelopes, sealed and containing ballots, may 
be by mail or by messenger. The envelopes should have 



28 A NEW SUGGESTION 

printed or embossed on their outward face a distinctive 
mark, such as will serve readily to indicate the party, by 
which, and the ward in which it is to be used. It should 
also contain spaces, suitably arranged and indicated, for the 
insertion of the number of the ward, the name and street ad- 
dress of the voter and the precinct in which he resides. And 
all the envelopes for any primary election in the 
ward should be numbered in one progressive series 
and the total number issued and the persons to whom is- 
sued should be certified by the supervisors before the day 
of the election. All their lists and certificates should be 
open to public inspection. This openness or accessibility 
to public inspection would probably preclude fictitious ap- 
plications, as the discovery of an}' such fiction would at 
once involve the person presenting the petition. If it 
should be deemed of sufficient importance to exclude mem- 
bers of other political parties from participating in the elec- 
tion, the law may include a section on that subject. An 
objection to the issue of an envelope to any one on that 
ground may be decided in a summary manner by arbitrators 
selected by the parties to the controversy. The supervis- 
ors should at least once in every two years ascertain from 
the Recorder of Voters whether the names enrolled by them 
are duly registered. Other provisions for preventing error 
or fraud may be embodied in the Act. 

After the names have been duly exhibited and the list re- 
vised by striking out any names found not to be registered, 
and those successfully challenged as not being identified 
with the party, the envelopes may be issued to the voters 
or to their authorized agents. On the day of the primary 
election the envelopes inclosing the tickets of the voters and 
properly sealed, may be presented by voters in person or 
sent in by mail or by their authorized agent. In this way 
the busy merchant or mechanic, or any other who lacks the 
time or resolution to go in person to the primary, can 



IN BALLOT REFORM. 29 

send his envelope and have a choice in the selection 
of delegates and in the choice of the member of the 
Central Committee selected for that ward. A few 
public-spirited party workers (and there are always 
a few such men in every ward) would see to it tbat 
the less interested members of their party make application 
for envelopes and that they make use of them by inclosing 
a ballot therein and have them transmitted to the supervis- 
ors. In each ward there are usually a number of men 
ambitious to serve the party, who will see to it that peti- 
tions are subscribed, envelopes issued and returned. In 
that way it will be possible to obtain the votes of many 
who under the present system habitually neglect taking any 
part in primary elections. 

It will not be important, as it is at official elections, for 
the voter at the primary to appear in person to deposit his 
envelope. If he incloses his ballot and sends it, it is suffi- 
cient. If he carelessly or corruptly gives it to another to 
use, it is simply, so far as the effect upon the result is con- 
cerned, as if he created a proxy. If he is willing to abide 
by the vote cast by his agent, there is not much reason for 
others to complain. But there is abundant reason for be- 
lieving that the men, who usually neglect primaries, are not 
the men who will sell their votes. The purchasable voters 
are already abroad in the land. They come out under the 
present system. It is not likely that in drawing out the 
stay-at-homes the mercenary votes would be much increased. 
For the purpose of primary elections, the recorder of voters 
would determine who are voters. Arbitrators would deter- 
mine whether the applicant is a member of the party he 
professes to support and the responsibility of the agent 
named in the petition would insure a proper distribution 
and return of the envelopes. The result would be a large 
and independent vote under such conditions, and attended 
with such documentary evidences as to results that it would 



30 A NEW SUGGESTION 

not be easy for the " machine " to defeat the will of the 
majority. 

Though not strictly in the line of discussion, it may be 
permissible in this connection to suggest that, as a means 
of partially defeating bossism in party politics, it might 
prove expedient to confer in primary elections the right of 
cumulative voting. A respectable minority could thereby 
secure a representation in the delegation of a ward to repre- 
sent the party at a nominating convention. An alert, intelli- 
gent minority, with the courage of decent purposes, may 
often prevent a nomination, which a less scrupulous but 
more solid delegation would not hesitate to impose upon the 
party. 

Should the objection be made that such a plan would en- 
tail a great deal of work on the Recorder of Voters and on 
the supervisors, it may be replied that there are plenty of 
men to be found able and willing to assist in a legitimate 
work; and there will be no lack of funds to pay for such 
work if a great public good can be secured thereby. Under 
the present system immense sums are exacted under the 
pretense of important party work, and a great part of such 
money is squandered in corrupt and useless ways. 

If there should be the objection that the plan is too intri- 
cate, it may be answered that the intricacy is a concern 
only for the supervisors. Under the directions of the stat- 
ute, their duties will be no more difficult ot comprehension 
and performance than are those required of Justices of the 
Peace, Assessors, Assignees, and others whose acts in some 
measure are prescribed by law. So far as the voter is con- 
cerned there is neither intricacy, inconvenience nor elabora- 
tion to trouble him in voting under the system proposed. 
He applies for enrollment, which will be granted to him if 
he is ascertained to be a registered voter of a ward, and is 
a member of the party in whose interest the Act has been 
adopted. He will receive his envelope either my mail, by 



IN BALLOT REFORM. 31* 

messenger or in person, as he may have previously directed. 
Inclosing a ballot and returning the envelope duly sealed 
to the supervisors, will in like manner be a performance so 
simple and easy that surely no one would require it to be 
more so. 

The writer appends to this paper a form of a law, em- 
bodying such provisions as will, in his opinion, make the 
measure practicable and successful. No doubt in numer- 
ous respects the act as suggested may be improved. But 
the main idea is earnestly commended to all who are in- 
terested in political reform. 

AN ACT. 

An act to provide a method by which voluntary political 
associations in certain cases may conduct primary elections. 

Section 1. The method of conducting primary elections 
by voluntary political associations, as hereinafter provided, 
shall be stjded the Registered Envelope method and shall 
become and be binding upon any such association within and 
for any ward of a city where registration of voters is re- 
quired by law, whenever a majority of the members of any 
association, who are qualified voters of such ward and are 
registered as such, shall, by a compliance with the provis- 
ions of this Act, declare their desire to adopt the method 
herein provided. 

Section 2. The method herein provided, when adopted 
by any voluntary political association for any ward of a city 
where registration of voters is required by law, shall apply 
to all primary elections thereafter held by such association 
in such ward, for the selection of delegates to all repre- 
sentative conventions, duly called by the authorized manag- 
ing committee of such association and in which such ward 
is entitled to representation : and shall be employed in all 
elections by the members of such association for such ward 



32 A NEW SUGGESTION 

for the selection of members of such standing committees, 
as are by the usages of such association to be chosen wholly 
or in part by a popular vote of such association within and 
for such ward. 

Section 3. Whenever a majority of the members of any 
voluntary political association of any ward in any city 
where registration of voters is required by law, shall, 
in person, respectively subscribe and acknowledge a peti- 
tion addressed to the State Executive Committee of 
such association, declaring that they are respect- 
ively residents of such city and ward, are qualified 
voters thereof and are duly registered as such and stating 
that they desire to have the provisions of this Act made ap- 
plicable to such ward, and thereafter to be binding upon 
such association in conducting its primary elections, and 
shall accompany such petition with a certificate from the 
Recorder of Voters, stating that the names on such petition 
are duly registered as voters of such ward, then such State 
Executive Committee shall, on receiving from such peti- 
tioners the necessary fees therefor, give thirty days public 
notice in such city that such application has been presented, 
and shall cause a copy of such petition to be kept for thirty 
days at some suitable place within said ward, subject to 
public inspection. At the expiration of said time and after 
having heard all exceptions or objections to the granting of 
such petition, said Executive Committee, if they shall be 
satisfied that such petition has been signed by a majority of 
the members of such association in such ward and that the 
subscribers of such petition are qualified voters of such 
ward, then said State Executive Committee shall cause a 
certificate to be made by its chairman and secretary setting 
forth that a majority of the voters of such ward who are 
members of such voluntary political association, have by a 
petition sought to have the provisions of this Act made 
binding upon such association, and that said Executive 



IN BALLOT REFORM. 33 

Committee is satisfied that such petition is signed by a ma- 
jority of the members of such association in such ward, and 
shall transmit the same to the Secretary of State. The 
Secretary ot State, on being paid a reasonable fee therefor 
shall file said statement and a copy thereof under the seal 
of his office shall be filed in the office of the Recorder of 
Deeds of the city whereof such ward is apart. Any Re- 
corder of Deeds, on receiving such copy and on receiving 
a proper fee therefor, shall record the same in his office, 
and on the filing of the same the provisions of this Act 
shall thereupon be binding upon such association in suck 
ward. 

Section 4. It shall be the duty of said State Executive 
Committee to appoint for such ward three qualified voters, 
members of such association, who shall be styled Supervis- 
ors of Primary Elections. The first three Supervisors shall 
be appointed respectively for terms of one, two and three 
years next ensuing, and every appointment thereafter made 
shall be for the term of three years, except where a vacancy 
occurs by death, resignation or removal, and in such event 
a successor shall be appointed by said committee to serve 
for the unexpired term. 

Section 5. Any person who is a member of a standing 
committee of such association, or who is an officer or em- 
ploye of the State, or of any municipality thereof, shall be 
ineligible to serve as such Supervisor, nor shall any one 
who is a candidate for a public office, or who has publicly 
announced himself as seeking to be nominated as a candi- 
date for a public office, be eligible to serve as such Super- 
visor. 

Section 6. It shall be the duty of such State Executive 
Committee, upon the issue by the Secretary of State, of a 
copy of the certificate hereinbefore mentioned, to prescribe 
a form of envelope to be used for the purposes of voting by 
the members of such association in such ward in all elections 

3 



34 A NEW SUGGESTION 

to which this Act applies, such envelope to be provided with 
an adhesive flap for sealing and to bear upon its face some 
peculiar mark or design unlike that of any other envelope, 
and to have on its face spaces, duly arranged and indicated, 
for the insertion of a date, a serial number, the name of 
the city and the name or the number of the ward for which 
it is intended, and also for the name and address of the 
voter, and shall certify the form prescribed to the super- 
visors of the ward for which such envelope is intended. 

Section 7. Whenever there shall be called a primary 
election to be held in any ward in behalf of a voluntary 
political association, which for such ward shall have adopted 
the method provided in this act, and it shall be the purpose 
of such primary election to choose delegates to any conven- 
tion to be held by such association for nominating candidates 
for public offices or for selecting members of any of the 
standing committees of such association, it shall be the duty 
of the supervisors of primary elections appointed in the 
interest of such association in such ward, on being supplied 
with the cost thereof, to cause to be made and prepared a 
sufficient number of envelopes of the form prescribed to 
supply each of the members of such association within such 
ward at the proposed primary election with one of said 
envelopes; all of such envelopes to be numbered progres- 
sively in one series and to be held ready for issue at least 
fifteen days before the day of the proposed primary elec- 
tion and, having so done, such supervisors shall make report 
thereof in writing to the City Central Committee of the city 
of which such ward is a part and in such report shall state 
the number and kind of envelopes that they have prepared 
and have ready for issue. 

Section 8. The supervisors, ten days prior to every 
primary election, shall make or cause to be made a roll of 
all the names of all voters in the ward to whom they have 
issued envelopes during the three years last past, omitting 



IN BALLOT REFORM. 35 

therefrom only those known to have ceased to be qualified 
voters in such ward ; and a second roll comprising the 
names of those voters who are members of such voluntary 
political association and who shall have made application 
for envelopes since the last preceding primary election ; 
but, for the purpose of voting at any primary election no 
new or additional names shall be enrolled later than ten 
<lays before the day of the primary election. 

Section 9. Application for enrollment may be made by 
any member of such voluntary political association who is 
a voter in such ward and is registered as such, and every 
such application or petition shall be written or printed and 
personally subscribed by the applicant and shall state that 
the subscriber or subscribers are residents of such ward, 
are qualified voters thereof, are registered as such, that 
they reside in the places set opposite their respective 
names and that they propose to co-operate generally with 
the party or association in whose behalf the proposed 
primary election has been called. Any number of members 
may unite in a single petition or application and may 
designate one or more persons as their agent or agents to 
receive their envelopes and to return the same to the super- 
visors. 

Section 10. The names enrolled by the supervisors shall, 
beginning not more than ten days nor less than five days 
before the day of the primary election, remain for three 
days at some suitable place in such ward open to public in- 
spection. As to all names enrolled for the first time it 
shall be the duty of the supervisors to apply to the Recorder 
of Voters to ascertain what names, if any, on such roll 
are not registered. And it shall be the duty of such super- 
visors at least once in every two years and after the 
Recorder of Voters shall have completed the revision of 
his registry of voters, to apply to the Recorder of Voters 
to ascertain what names, if any, on any of the rolls by them 



36 A NEW SUGGESTION 

made and preserved are not registered, and it shall be the 
duty of the Recorder of Voters, on being paid a proper fee 
therefor, forthwith to make a careful examination of such 
lists as such supervisors shall from time to time submit to 
him, and ascertain by reference to the records in his office 
what names on such lists are registered voters and what 
names are not and to certify those not registered to the 
supervisors. 

Section 11. Any objection made in writing and signed 
by two qualified voters and filed with the supervisors not 
later than five days before the day of the primary election 
opposing the issue of an envelope to any applicant therefor, 
on the ground that such applicant is not a member of such 
association, shall be cause for withholding an envelope from 
such applicant until the validity of such objection is deter- 
mined. The issue raised by any such objection shall be 
forthwith transferred by the supervisors to a committee of 
three arbitrators, one to be chosen by the objector, one by 
the applicant and the third by the two arbitrators so chosen ; 
and the decision of a majority of such committee shall be 
conclusive of the issue thus brought before them. In case 
such committee fail to hear and decide such issue before the 
second day prior to the day of the primary election, it shall 
be the duty of the supervisors, if requested thereto by the 
applicant, to appoint a new committee and refer the matter 
in controversy to them for decision. 

Section 12. It shall be the duty of the supervisors five days 
before the day of the primary election to issue to every mem- 
ber of such association who is a voter in such ward and is 
registered as such and who has previously made due applica- 
tion therefor and against whom no objections have been 
filed, one of such envelopes, and it shall be their duty to 
issue envelopes to those in whose favor all objections made 
thereto have been duly investigated and overruled as soon 
as such opposition in each instance has been concluded. 



IN BALLOT REFORM. 37 

And every issue may be either to the applicant in person 
or to the agent whom he in his application may have de- 
signated or in those cases where voters have previously so 
directed by an order in writing and have prepaid to the 
supervisors the cost thereof envelopes suitably inclosed 
and sealed may be delivered by mail. 

Section 13. The supervisors in inclosing, sealing and 
depositing envelopes in the mail to be delivered to voters 
shall do so in the presence of a notary public, who upon 
the performance of such duty by the supervisors shall ad- 
minister to them an oath that they have faithfully trans- 
mitted by mail one of such envelopes to each voter entitled 
under this act to receive the same ; and sach oaths shall be 
certified by such notary public upon a list of the names of 
all persons to whom such envelopes were duly posted for 
transmission by mail by such supervisors, and such list shall 
be kept by such supervisors, but subject to public inspec- 
tion. 

Section 14. At six o'clock p. m. on the day preceding 
the primary election issue of envelopes for such election 
shall cease; and no additional or duplicate envelopes for 
such election shall be issued nor shall such envelopes 
be issued in any other manner nor to any other 
persons than provided in this act. The supervisors 
shall make a list of all the names of voters to whom 
envelopes are issued, placing opposite each name the 
serial number of the envelope issued to such person; 
and the supervisors shall make a report in writing to the 
City Executive Committee setting forth the number of en- 
velopes issued by them for such primary election. 

Section 15. On the day of the primary election the 
supervisors shall receive from the voters of such ward to 
whom they have issued envelopes all such envelopes duly 
sealed which such voters may in person, by mail or by their 
designated agents deliver. 



38 A NEW SUGGESTION 

Section 16. In the use of such envelopes for the pur- 
pose of voting every member of such voluntary association 
who is a voter of such ward and to whom the supervisors 
of such association for such ward have issued an envelope 
may inclose his ballot in the envelope so issued to him and 
it shall be the duty of the supervisors to receive the same, 
but no such voter shall be permitted to use the envelope 
issued to any other person. It shall be the privilege of 
such voter in inclosing his ballot in such envelope to in- 
dorse or note on such ballot the serial number which his 
envelope bears. 

Section 17. At seven o'clock p. m. of the day of the 
primary election the receipt of envelopes by the supervis- 
ors shall cease and thereupon before opening such en- 
velopes the supervisors shall ascertain the total number of 
envelopes received and publicly announce such result. The 
supervisors shall thereupon open the envelopes, canvass the 
ballots cast therein, and make a schedule of the results of 
such election and certify the same to the person or persons 
elected at such election and to the City Central Committee 
of such association. In case any envelope shall be found 
to contain more than one ticket or ballot, all of such tickets 
or ballots so contained shall be rejected and a report there- 
of made to the person in whose name such ballots were cast 
and also a report of the same to the City Central Com- 
mittee. 

Section 18. It shall be the duty of the supervisors safely 
to preserve all envelopes and ballots received by them from 
voters at any primary election until the time of service for 
which the persons elected at such election were chosen shall 
expire. 

Section 19. It shall be unlawful for any person without 
the authority of such supervisors to make or cause to be 
made envelopes resembling in appearance those prescribed 
for the use of such association in such ward; and it shall 



IN BALLOT REFORM. 39 

be unlawful for any person to use for the purpose of voting 
an envelope issued to any other person than to himself; 
and any person convicted of such illegal manufacture or 
use shall be punished by a fine of not less than $100. 

Section 20. Any voluntary political association which 
may have adopted the provisions of this Act for any ward 
may repeal the same and become and be no longer bound 
thereby by causing a petition to that effect to be subscribed 
and acknowledged by a majority of the members of such 
association who are voters in such ward, are registered as 
such and by addressing such petition to the State Executive 
Committee of such association. In examining such petition 
and deciding upon the correctness of the representations 
thereof such State Executive Committee shall give the same 
publicity and require like evidence as to the facts stated 
therein as it is required to do in deciding applications made 
under section three of this Act. If such petition for re- 
peal is found to be true and if approved by such State 
Executive Committee it shall cause a certificate to that 
effect to be filed with the Secretary of State and a like 
certificate to be filed with the Eecorder of Deeds in the 
city where such ward is situated ; and thereupon such as- 
sociation in such ward shall be no longer bound by the pro- 
visions of this Act. 



Note. — In the hope of eliciting expressions of opinion as to the 
practicability of the plan suggested, copies of this pamphlet, to a limited 
extent, will be distributed to persons familiar with political affairs. 

Any communication touching the subjects discussed, whether in criti- 
cism, amendment or approbation, will be duly appreciated by the writer. 

ALBERT BLAIR. 

506 Olive Street, St. Louis, Mo. 



A NEW SUGGESTION 



BALLOT REFORM. 



THE REGISTERED ENVELOPE PLA] 



ITS USE IN PRIMARY ELECTIONS. 



BY 

ALBERT BLAIR. 



St. Louis, Mo., October, 1S89. 



ST. LOUIS: 
NIXON-JONES PRINTING CO. 

1889. 



^ cc OC 

-< c;<r <xc«c« 



,' cc 


cC :<LC 


<«^ 


. CC 


"C'-Cf 


icr 


C O. 


iC'/CI 




«- 


c Ccl: 


^cx 


- re i 


o.- c : 


«x 


r €X <C < 




<r: 


OX C 


^ <c ,: 


E3B 


- <T_ . 


i, ■ <§r 


JC 


< cr - 


. c C • 


S^P 


CCCX' 


' <CXc 




CCC"^ 


0TJL 


^X 


xcr:< c 


<mc 


^c3 


cxtx. 


•«rxc 


«e 


<iC- cc:'' - 


: OCX:^ 


: «c 


: 


OCX cc 


:■ ^ 


•c cc 

x-.<x^ 


<■ «r::<? 
■ <CT~oc 

<cx «:. 


<: 


c <cic 


<cx <c 


c 


r^C. <C 


^CZT C§ 


* 


<::•€ _ ' CC - 


0dlT < C < 


C < 


^c: cr" 


^trx cc 


: < 


C Cc 


<CX «S2 


c 


c ' cc'' 


«cr -cc 


c 


<- c< 


«CX- « 


< 


*. Cc 


«cx .«£<£ 


c 


c CC < 


ex xc: 


c 


'•' 




<c 



CC 

ZI.&Z. 

ZL 'CC 

X CC 

<f<X 

<rc 
ox 

1 cc; 
: cc 

'&CZ 

mz 

c: «s<x 

or. 



ox <c 

^ r >^ 
x <& 

i 
" . <t_ - 

<r «' 
cc c 

<sx<c 
<r cc 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

029 809 706 



